Can a bashed face mend broken hearts?
by maej26
Summary: Mike and Alex confront each other about the status of their relationship after Alex gets hurt at Night of Champions.


**Title:** Can a bashed face mend broken hearts?

**Pairing:** Mike "The Miz" Mizanin & Alex Riley

**Rating:** PG-13

**Genre:** Slash, angst, comfort

**Summary:** Miz and Alex confront each other about the status of their relationship after Alex gets hurt at Night of Champions.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the story idea.

**Author Notes:** If a few lines seem familiar, it's only because the wonderful Mizley writers have inspired me. Also, I was inspired by a line from Glee and of course the insane chemistry these guys have. I'm so in love with these two.

Alex Riley was in the middle of his fatal-four-way match at Night of Champions competing for the United States Championship when the inevitable happened. He knew it was bound to happen but he sure as hell wasn't expecting it to happen this night. Dolph Ziggler was outside the ring when Alex hurled his body through the air but just as he was about to land on his opponent, Ziggler pushed him out of the way. Alex's face collided with the steel steps, delivering a blow that would knock him out for the next several minutes.

Mike, who had been watching the match in his private dressing room, kept repeating to himself, "Get up Riley, get up Riley," until his former protégé finally got up. The second the match was over Mike made his way through the corridors of the arena needing to check on Alex, desperately wanting to make sure his ex-boyfriend wasn't seriously injured.

Alex didn't win the match, but then again, he wasn't supposed to. Even so, he couldn't help but feel defeated. Holding the side of his face, still burning with pain, he slowly walked towards the locker room hoping the night would just be over.

"Alex," a comforting presence filled the air. Alex turned towards the familiar voice. It was the man he considered to be the best friend he ever had, but that ended months ago leaving them colleagues and nothing more.

Avoiding eye contact, whether deliberately or subconsciously, Alex responded, "Yeah, Mike, what's up?" On the outside, Alex was aloof but on the inside he was conflicted more than he'd ever care to admit. He was happy to see Mike but he was still reeling from their break-up all these months later. People say time heals all wounds, well in Alex's case, time hasn't done shit except remind him of all the time he wasn't spending with the man he loved more than his own life.

"Follow me," Mike instructed leaving no room for protest and led the way to his private dressing room. Neither man said a single word but both their minds were racing, wondering what the other was thinking, wondering what the other would say. Alex noticed that Mike was still in his wrestling gear and wondered why he hadn't showered and changed yet since he had already had his tag team match but before he lingered too long on that thought, his mind wandered in a different direction. Only four months ago he and Mike were on top of the world and now they were both stuck in shitty storylines and have barely spoken two words to each other before tonight. Alex was still holding his face when he walked into Mike's dressing room. His former mentor in front of him still, with his back towards him. Alex shut the door and before he could speak, Mike turned around. With obvious worry and concern, he rushed to Alex and brought up his hand to gently hold his aching face. "Are you okay? I almost lost it when Ziggler pushed you and you didn't get up. I should kick his ass for that. What the fuck did he think he was doing?" Alex could hear a slight tremble in Mike's voice. This was the Mike he fell in love with. He hadn't seen _his_ Mike in so long.

Taken aback, Alex's jaw dropped and his eyes started to gloss over. He didn't know Mike still had these feelings, _any_ feelings for him. Mike was the one who ended things, after all. Alex wasn't ready to let his guard down so he blinked back the tears. "I...I'll be fine. It looks worse than it really is." This wasn't entirely true but he needed Mike to stop touching him. This was dangerous. Alex reached up to pull Mike's hand from his face but before he could follow through, the warmth of his hand on Mike's made Alex feel like he was home again. The two men looked into each other's eyes for a moment and then Mike took a small step back, realizing he over-stepped. Alex was not his to care for anymore, even if he did still feel that connection, that pull. Alex took a deep breath snapping back to reality. "I'm not sure what you're trying to do here. Where is this coming from?" Alex now had a stern, defensive tone flooding his voice. As much as he still hurt, he knew if he let Mike back in for even a second, it would hurt that much more when he left again.

Anguish. Regret. Mike's eyes said it all. Suddenly it was like a tidal wave rushed over him and he couldn't hold it back any longer. "I should never have let our storyline interfere with our relationship." Mike's chin began to quiver uncontrollably. "You were my best friend, my lover, my confidant. You were everything and I let it all go." Shifting towards Alex again, "I fucked up and seeing you out there tonight, seeing you hurt, left me helpless and scared and I couldn't stay away any longer. I needed to be where you are. I needed to protect you." Mike was visibly nervous as he confessed his feelings for Alex.

Alex tried to stay in control; keep his feelings in check. "You sure as hell didn't care about protecting me in May...You fucking coward," Alex's voice started to trail off with those last few words. He lowered his head in shame because half of him didn't even want to say those words but they were begging to be released. Alex had been holding on to this for so long.

"Yeah, you're right. I was a coward and I'm so sorry it's taken me all this time to see what was right in front of me. I let this business, this fucking business, dictate my future; what was important to me. I should have listened to you when you told me what would happen. I'm listening now." Alex tried to move away, his defenses still up, but he was already against the door. There was nowhere to go. Mike slowly moved his hands back to Alex's face. Instinctively, Alex shifted his head up away from Mike. "Look at me," Mike whispered. "Please look at me, Alex...My Alex." Hearing those last two words from Mike caused a knot to form in the pit of Alex's stomach. He looked down at Mike and the second their eyes met, Alex felt himself melt. He even almost let out a whimper. _Almost_. Mike had this power over him, it was just too damned strong. He slumped against the door, suddenly finding it hard to support himself on his own. He bit the inside of his lower lip, physically forcing back the tears but it wasn't working. Mike leaned his forehead against Alex and the two men stood there for a few seconds, their faces rubbing against one another a couple of times and then Alex finally spoke.

"Now what?" Alex now felt more defeated than he had been after his match. He had forgotten everything he promised himself he wouldn't forget and at this point he would do whatever Mike wanted of him. "You think we can just start over and act like the past four months never happened?" The question came out more as a plea.

With his own eyes fixated on Alex's eyes, Mike emphatically stated, "Yes."

And with a single word Alex was convinced. He finally reached up to hold Mike's face, caress his hair and the back of his neck. He wiped the tear tracks that stained Mike's cheeks causing Mike to quiver. "It still won't be like before though. We're never going to get that back. The freedom we had to hang out whenever we wanted and no one would even question our motives...We don't have any excuses now, not like before. We're going to have to be careful but I'm willing if you are."

Mike nodded his head reassuringly, "Absolutely." He leaned in and just as the two men were about to solidify their rediscovered relationship with a kiss, Mike snapped back, "F…Fuck!"

Alex jolted, his eyes widening, "What is it?"

Mike felt like a complete fool. He should have stayed in the moment and kissed Alex when he had the chance so the younger man would remember what they had. Why didn't he kiss him? "Oh, Alex. I..."

"What is it, Mike? You're really freaking me out."

Mike smashed the palm of his hand into this forehead, deathly afraid of what would happen next. "They...Alex, I'm so sorry."

"Just say it, Mike!"

"They're going to fire me tomorrow night."

Alex didn't quite know how to react. "Uh, is this some kind of joke? Sh...should I be laughing?"

With his eyes lowered to the ground, Mike hesitantly continued, "I'm supposed to go out there with Ron during the main event and attack Triple H, that's why I'm still in my wrestling gear. And then..." Mike swallowed hard, loud enough that even Alex heard it, "And then tomorrow night after our match he's going to fire us." Mike looked up searching for Alex's eyes. He sees his boyfriend go from confused to downright pissed. Mike tried to alleviate some of the tension the best he could, "It's not permanent. It's not even real, it's..." But before Mike could finish his sentence, Alex interrupted.

"You won't _be_ here though! So, I'm supposed to go from not being able to talk to you to not even being able to see you?" At this point Alex was yelling. He felt like he had just fallen into a trap. Why would Mike lead him on just to drop a bombshell like this on him? None of this made sense to Alex and he just wanted to get the hell out of there. He could barely think straight. Feeling spiteful and betrayed, Alex grimly spat in Mike's face, "Fucking awesome," and opened the door.

Mike turned his back towards Alex and a fraction of a second later he heard the door slam. His whole body felt the vibration, especially his stomach. But his stomach didn't stop churning and he found himself clutching at it, trying to make it stop twisting itself into knots. It was no use. The pain was unbearable and he let out an agonizing scream. He literally thought he was dying. His chest was tight, so tight he found it hard to breathe and in turn he let out more sobs, heaving in an effort to catch his breath. Again, it was no use and he soon found himself falling to the floor, his legs giving out underneath him, no longer able to support his weight. Then without warning and when all hope had abandoned him, he felt _warmth_ upon his left shoulder. He reached to his shoulder with his right hand and when he realized what that warmth was, he turned and looked up to Alex. Trying to choke back the tears, Mike tried to form coherent words, "You...You're here." Tears streamed down Mike's face, he didn't even need to blink. They were pouring from him like a leaky faucet.

"I'm here."

The tears came rushing through again as Alex helped Mike get back on his feet and the two embraced, hugging each other so tightly they almost became one. "I thought I lost you again. I can't do that. I can never do that again."

Even seeing Mike break down right in front of him, knowing full well how that felt, Alex had pushed back everything until this moment. He joined Mike and cried into his shoulder. "Never again. I promise." And with that vow the two found themselves passionately kissing but only for a few seconds because it really was hard for them to breathe between the crying and kissing. They opted just to hold each other but that was enough.

A few minutes later, a fuzzy noise came over the loud speaker. Miz and R-Truth were paged warning that they had ten minutes until they were needed.

The two men held each other a little longer until reluctantly peeling their bodies away from one another. Alex looked into Mike's bloodshot eyes and even seeing what a mess Mike was at the moment, he couldn't help but think he was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. Alex wiped Mike's face with the palm of his hands cleaning away all the tears, sweat and everything else. He would always take care of Mike from now on. It's all he wanted to do since they first met. Mike only had a few minutes to pull himself together and become The Miz but he was a pro and it didn't take much time. The remaining minutes were spent kissing his Alex.

"It's time for you to go now," Alex whispered in Mike's ear.

Mike nodded and smiled at Alex. He kissed him once more and then headed towards the door. Grabbing the doorknob, he paused and turned back around to his lover, his best friend and most trusted confidant, "You'll still be here when I get back, right?"

Alex stood there and admired the sweet, innocent expression on his lover's face and reassuringly answered, "Yes. I'll be here when you get back."


End file.
